When I was introduced to Dannie Fountain and discovered that she is a digital nomad and a business strategist, I instantly wanted to get to know her and ask her a million questions! So I was thrilled when she agreed to come on the show and talk about what she calls the Business Systems Atlas. A Business System Atlas is quite like a control central for your business. It helps you to get really clear about how your business operates and it keeps everything clean and tidy. I love that Dannie breaks it down into some really easy steps to follow and takes out the overwhelm by explaining exactly what’s inside her own System Atlas so you can see how this is adaptable for a specific business - she’s an author, so a lot of her Atlas is directly impacted by that! To make it really simple for you, today’s download walks you through the steps to create your own business System Atlas, so be sure to grab that at http://branditgirl.com/011download. What’s also really cool in this episode is that Dannie talks to me about what it’s like to be a digital nomad and she offers us some tips on how to adopt the digital nomad lifestyle! So if that’s a lifestyle you are considering, this is a great episode to listen to that will teach you how to work on the wrong and stay really organised!  

011 | How To Create A Systems Atlas For Your Business

The Brand It Girl Podcast talks all things online business, blogging and brand strategy! Brought to you by Aussie brand stylist, designer and online business coach, Sam Bell, this weekly workshop style podcast for ladyboss entrepreneurs, business owners and bloggers will help you cut through the clutter, establish and grow the business of your dreams and will help you achieve that freedom and flexibility you dream of!

I am sure you’ve heard all the online marketing gurus tell you to make sure you have a blog and make sure you have a list! Both of these elements play a different role in your business strategy:   Blogging:  Helps you to build up a portfolio for your knowledge, It builds your authority and expert status, And it gives you something to share with your community, ultimately as a way to engage new people AND re-engage people who already know your brand.    Email Marketing:  Builds relationships with your audience, Gives your subscribers a chance to hear from you more regularly and learn more about you and how you can help them. And you’re also giving them exclusive content or help.    It’s no secret that I have often talked about the importance of creating high quality content of some kind AND the importance of building an email list. But why and how do you make it so that your blog and email marketing is working together, and essentially playing nice?   In isolation, content (on something like a blog or a podcast) and your email list can only take you so far! But together! They are powerful and that’s what today’s episode is all about!   These two elements of your marketing mix are not meant to perform on their own. They are meant to play nice, they are meant to help one another! If you’re able to master the strategy and understand the link between your content and your list, you’ll see big shifts in your business and essentially you’ll maximise your reach!   Tune in to find out how!

072 | How To Make Blogging And Email Marketing Play Nice!

Starting a business on your own is arguably one of the most exciting AND terrifying experience you could ever have. Along with the intoxicating optimism about your business growing, there’s this lingering fear that you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re not good enough, you don’t have a remarkable product - that mindset block that ruins your game.   The good news is, you are going to make a lot of mistakes and you are going to learn and grow a lot from them. There’s no such thing is a perfect start.   So in this episode, I will be sharing beginner mistakes that I have experienced myself and you might have had too (or are currently doing!) and the key changes that I made to grow as a solopreneur: 1. Not building your network early It's never too early to meeting new people and finding your community. When you're starting a relatively unique business (like an online business where you don't personally know anyone that does that in your local area or in your friendship group), reaching out to leaders in your niche is a great idea to learn.   2. Not asking for help It's not easy to do things yourself when you're starting out, and you don't need to learn and execute every single thing.   3. Skimping on tools you need to improve your business We all want to run a lean startup and for a lot of us, we don’t really have a choice! But sometimes trying to cut costs might actually keep you from implementing a system in your business that will mean you’re growing faster and more efficiently. Don't hesitate to invest in good tools and courses that might be useful in running your business!   4. Underestimating your skill set Your limitations in business are defined by what YOU THINK you can do. If you think you can't do this, you probably won't until you decide to just do it. Selling yourself shortThis is a common struggle among creatives - they don't realize the work behind your designs and so they would try to haggle for the price or worse, ask you to give it to them for free especially if they are friends/family/family friends. Realize the value you bring to the table and make it clear to them that what you're doing is a business. You're making a decision!   5. Not separating your personal finances from the business This comes in a few different forms:  Personal/Business Finances Boundaries on your time   Check out ep 66 - we talk about 5 ways to know if you need boundaries in your business.      6. Trying to perfect every single thing If you're aiming for perfection, you'll never achieve it. Being a perfectionist only steals time you should be spending on other things in your to-do list instead. Also, that's what improvement is for. Your first steps need not be perfect. Their main purpose really is so that you put yourself out there. As you go, you will realize what works and what doesn't, and only then can you improve. And you'll always improve  7. Not using your 'dead' time efficiently Running your own business is different from a 9-5 job. While there's nothing wrong with going out for a drink or two, you should also use your downtimeime to expand your knowledge. Enrol to an ecourse, download a podcast and listen to it while you're out on a run, set up virtual coffee with your new online business friends, etc. Tune in below or listen to this episode on iTunes or Spotify!

071 | Solopreneur Mistakes When We Start Out

Whether you’re thinking about transitioning out of your 9-5, you’re a blogger that’s looking to start making incoming, or you’re looking to swap out blogging for coaching, chances are you’d be feeling a little uncertainty around the move you’ve been thinking about making! I get it - change is hard. It’s scary and vulnerable! That’s why really zoning in on your WHY and leaning on your passion is so important. You WHY is the driver behind this transition, so getting clear on the life you want to create for you and your family is key. But we also know that there’s a lot more to it when you’re thinking about transitioning from, let’s say blogging to coaching. There’s the process of finding (and committing to) your niche; updating your brand and altering the way you use social media; communicating with your existing audience and community what you’re doing next and how they can continue to engage with you. Not to mention the mindset piece behind such a big move. In this episode, special guest Reelika Schulte, shares her own journey from corporate to blogger to coach and she pulls back the curtains and reveals how to make this transition yourself. So if you’ve been waiting for a sign, here it is!

069 | The Journey Of Transitioning From Blogging To Coaching

As an online business owner, you know the value of being visible for your brand. That might mean turning up on social media, being featured on blogs or in publications and sometimes even being on video or doing live streams. Being the face of your brand is vital to building brand awareness and authentic connections with your community but I know it’s sometimes easier said than done.   Perhaps you have been struggling to be the face of your brand because:  You don’t love being on camera, it’s uncomfortable for you. You can’t commit to the process of being on camera regularly, doing your hair and makeup that regularly is too much additional work right now. It’s just not a good fit for your lifestyle and you know that you’ll struggle with being consistent.    What if I told you that there’s another way to be the face of your brand that creates perhaps the most powerful of connections AND removes all those struggles right away! Podcasting offers us a unique opportunity to get in front of our audience and build relationships with them. And not just our audience, but others in our industry too. It also offers us a new way of using social media as a companion of our podcasts to continue the conversation and build out the relationship further. There’s something magical in hearing a person’s voice - it creates a connection quicker than just seeing a stock photo on Instagram or a status update on Facebook. And podcasting opens up that possibility for us to create high-value content that really does double as a relationship builder!   In today’s episode, public relations and podcast management expert Monica Woodhams comes on the show to share exactly why you need to be the face of your brand and how podcasting can help you do that! She has over a decade of experience working with Tedx Speakers, entrepreneurs and influencers so she has seen first hand how powerful podcasting can be!

068 | Why You Need to Be the Face of Your Brand and How Podcasting is a Great Space To Do That

Your brand is so much more than just a logo, a colour palette, your website. It's a personality, a set of feelings and emotions, a voice and a face we can recognise. That's why brand development is so much more than just choose your fonts! A huge part of brand development is creating a sense of awareness around your brand and in a lot of ways that really comes down to visibility - both on and offline. This week's special guest, Whitney Eckis, knows all about the importance of visibility when it comes to raising awareness around a brand and this is exactly what she did and continues to do for her businesses and for her clients too. She share what it takes to really step out from behind the brand and be the face.  We explore what kinds of opportunities we should be looking for to create a strong brand image and even how to create our own! (Think events, interviews, PR). One of the things I like most about Whitney is that she doesn't just sit back and wait for it to happen! She creates her own opportunities and she shares in this week's episode how she brought together some massive influencers and hosted an event that completely changed her business. We also share a few laughs in this episode about the challenges and insecurities that come with stepping out into the spotlight on your brand and what it really means to be the face. Sometimes there's bad days and definitely challenges, but Whitney explains how she deals with that! So, if you're in the brand development phase (and really, is a brand ever fully developed? I don't think so...) and you want to learn more about how to elevate your brand and unlock your business' full potential, then you'll definitely want to tune in!

011 | How To Create A Systems Atlas For Your Business

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